Cannabis is legal. It’s being used for all sorts of medical issues and conditions.
But will cannabis improve menopause symptoms?
A study from the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada found that one in three women are using it near the time of menopause.
Some were using for menopause per se; others were using it for medical reasons that overlapped with menopause. That is according to a press release from the North American Menopause Society (NAMS) that will be discussed at the upcoming annual meeting of NAMS.
The purpose of the study was to determine just how effective cannabis is perceived to be for treating menopause symptoms. Cannabis has been legal in Canada since 2018.
According to the study, the researchers analyzed 1,500 women from the province of Alberta – 18% were in premenopause, 33% were in perimenopause, 35% were in postmenopause, and a few percent had either a hysterectomy (uterus removed) or bilateral oophorectomy (both ovaries removed).
Seventy-five percent of the women said they were using cannabis in the form of edibles (52%) or oils (47%) for medical reasons – sleep issues, mood issues such as depression, mood swings, irritability and anxiety, difficulty concentrating, muscle/joint achiness, or painful intercourse. Most got their medical information about cannabis from either the internet or family and friends.
The study confirmed that women in and around menopause are using cannabis for their menopause symptoms, especially those with more menopause symptoms, and many claimed they were getting at least some relief. Some earlier studies however have found that cannabis isn’t a pleasant experience for all women. While this is an early study that mostly shows women are looking for something to help them with their menopause symptoms, much more work is needed to find out just how effective cannabis is and for what symptoms and just how much to use.
Although estrogen is both safe and effective for most women’s menopause symptoms, misinformation and fear have kept many searching for other forms of relief.
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